The court so granted an appeal by lawyers for the Romanov royal family against an earlier court decision denying their rehabilitation.

The presidium ruled to invalidate an earlier determination by a Supreme Court panel, which found that Nicholas II and members of his family were not eligible for rehabilitation.

German Lukyanov, a lawyer for the Romanov royal family, insisted in the appeal that Nicholas II and his family members were subjected to reprisals based on social, religious, and political motives and that the Russian law stipulates that all victims of political reprisals are eligible for rehabilitation.

"Reprisals are coercion measures applied by government bodies invested with administrative powers to limit someone's rights and freedoms based on class, social, and religious motives," he said.

"The body that made the decision to execute the members of the royal family was invested with such powers," he said.

The prosecution said at the court that the rehabilitation of the members of the royal family would be unlawful.

"The members of the royal family were not arrested on political grounds and no court ruled to execute them. In addition, there is no information indicating that any court rulings were handed down in relation to the members of the royal family," he said.

The Russian Supreme Court denied the rehabilitation of Nicholas II and members of his family last November, thus upholding a decision by the Prosecutor General's Office that the emperor, his wife, and five children, who were shot in 1918, were not eligible for rehabilitation.

The remains of the members of the royal family and their retinue were discovered buried near an old road not far from Yekaterinburg in July 1991. Expert analyses conducted as part of a criminal case pursued by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed that the remains were those of the above-mentioned people. The remains were buried at the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on July 17, 1998.

The Russian supreme court has ruled that the country's last tsar and his family must be recognised as victims of Soviet repression 90 years after they were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad.

In an unexpected ruling, the court in Moscow declared that Nicholas II and the royal family had been killed illegally and are entitled to legal rehabilitation by the state.The decision brings to a close a decade-long campaign by the tsar's descendants to force the state to admit culpability for what many Russians regard as the single most horrific political crime of the 20th century.It also represents a symbolic end to Russia's often tortured process of addressing the repressions of the Soviet era.Since the collapse of Communism, over four million Russians who were executed or jailed in gulags for political reasons have been formally exonerated and declared victims of repression, a process known in Russia as rehabilitation.But state prosecutors, judges and even the supreme court itself, in an earlier ruling, refused to make the same gesture to the tsar and his family.Saying that no official death warrants had ever been found, they claimed it was possible that the deaths were unilaterally carried out by the Ural regional soviet without reference to the Bolshevik high command. Their deaths were therefore characterized as murder rather than state-sanctioned executions.Nicholas, his wife and five children, along with four servants, were shot by a firing squad in Yekaterinburg in July 1918 as the White Army advanced towards the city at the height of the Russian civil war.Most historians say there is enough evidence to show that the executions were carried out on the orders of Lenin, who is still widely revered in Russia.Since 2006, a series of courts have ruled against petitions filed by Grand Princess Maria Vladimirovna, one of several claimants to the Russian throne. Given the previous rebuffs, few members of the Romanov family expected a positive ruling today. In July, Prince Dmitry, one of the family's most senior members, predicted that Russia's last tsar was as likely to be rehabilitated as the apostle Peter, who is traditionally believed to have been crucified upside down by the Romans.Yesterday, however, the Romanovs were rejoicing."The protracted rehabilitation process has come to a successful end," said German Lukyanov, the lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of Grand Princess Maria, who lives in Spain."Justice has triumphed. It has proved that all victims of the repressions should be rehabilitated."But he said that the ruling would not lead to any claims for either the restitution of the monarchy in Russia or the restoration of royal properties seized by the Bolsheviks.

To remove Lenin? Hmmm...I don´t think that´s going to happen... He´s a symbol of Russia as well as the Romanovs.

Why not? Stalin was a symbol, he was removed from mausoleum, Leningrad was renamed to its original name, communists now weird party of crazy old people. I don’t think Russia has any longer attachment to the mummy, what use to called Lenin, considering its only less than 10% remaining of him. I am just thinking this is natural evolution. Remember - Russians for very long time considered murder of Romanov family justified, they even build up moral model about it, that because of the death of entire Romanov family, White Army and Triple Entente no longer had symbol to fight for, so killing every single Romanov was “good deal”, in order to save life of “innocent” solders of Red Army.

As I understand it, Lenin asked to be buried in Leningrad anyway....also it is very costly to keep his body preserved well enough for public viewing. But even so, I would be surprised to see his mausoleum moved any time soon!

The rather tardy respect for Lenin's expressed preferences for his burial is a separate issue. The rehabilitation of the family is a legal acknowledgement that they should not have been killed by the Bolsheviks.

The rather tardy respect for Lenin's expressed preferences for his burial is a separate issue. The rehabilitation of the family is a legal acknowledgement that they should not have been killed by the Bolsheviks.

What we suggesting over here, about next steps for Russians to clean up the mess that commies put entire country in to.About rehabilitation its more than acknowledgment, we are talking about Russian government publicly announced that its condemn entire direction taken by Bolsheviks and soviet rulers. For my opinion, it is first major milestone after fall of the Soviet Union.

The rather tardy respect for Lenin's expressed preferences for his burial is a separate issue. The rehabilitation of the family is a legal acknowledgement that they should not have been killed by the Bolsheviks.

What we suggesting over here, about next steps for Russians to clean up the mess that commies put entire country in to.About rehabilitation its more than acknowledgment, we are talking about Russian government publicly announced that its condemn entire direction taken by Bolsheviks and soviet rulers. For my opinion, it is first major milestone after fall of the Soviet Union.

Perhaps as you say it is more than an acknowledgement. It is certainly a start. The Orthodox Church continues to not acknowledge the remains as genuine.

Lisa are you referring to the remains of the Royal Family buried in St.Petersburg?

For the life of me I can't understand why they continue to doubt their authenticity,after so many tests including DNA.I know that the ROCA is convinced they are genuine and venerate both the deceased and their relics as Holy Martyrs and believed those bones buried in the cathedral belong to Nicholas II and his family.The ones here in Oz have even started planning the trip for the burial of Alexi's remains.

To remove Lenin? Hmmm...I don´t think that´s going to happen... He´s a symbol of Russia as well as the Romanovs.

Why not? Stalin was a symbol, he was removed from mausoleum, Leningrad was renamed to its original name, communists now weird party of crazy old people. I don’t think Russia has any longer attachment to the mummy, what use to called Lenin, considering its only less than 10% remaining of him. I am just thinking this is natural evolution. Remember - Russians for very long time considered murder of Romanov family justified, they even build up moral model about it, that because of the death of entire Romanov family, White Army and Triple Entente no longer had symbol to fight for, so killing every single Romanov was “good deal”, in order to save life of “innocent” solders of Red Army.

But during the commmunst rain they didn't deastory the Alexander lll grave site. I don't think we should remove those sites. It's part of there history as well.

I know that the ROCA is convinced they are genuine and venerate both the deceased and their relics as Holy Martyrs and believed those bones buried in the cathedral belong to Nicholas II and his family.

That's probably one reason for the ROC's recalcitrance in this issue. The ROCA and ROC have always been split as to the spiritual fate of the Imperial Family, and it's taken a long time for the two to reconcile on this. The ROC took their position against the remains before the IF was canonized, and long before the ROC and ROCA were reunited last year. I would imagine that eventually they will officially recognize that the remains are genuine, it's just church politics getting in the way.

As to burying Lenin, I believe that will eventually happen to. It's just the right thing to do. It's what Lenin wanted, to begin with. Nevermind how ghoulish and out of place Lenin's corpse is in modern Russia...